Volunteers Archive

A strong volunteer base makes for a healthy long-term parent group. You'll find tons of ideas in the articles below to help you get greater parent and community involvement in your PTO. When you're done reading, head over to the Message Boards to connect with other leaders facing the same challenges.

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• Treat Your Volunteers Right - Don’t wait for the big annual event to say thanks. We've rounded up a bunch of simple recognition and appreciation ideas that can be used year-round.
• Beat the Midyear Volunteer Slump - A focus on recognition and communication can help energize your group's recruitment efforts.
• A Tale of Two Volunteers - Bridging the newbie-veteran gap.
• Working Moms Are Top U.S. Volunteers - A survey identifies working mothers as the most likely to give of their time.
• Making School-Church Partnerships Work - Handled well, relationships with local religious organizations can lead to positive outcomes for schools and students.
• Service Groups Lend a Hand - Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, and other community organizations can provide a lot of help to parent groups.
• Confront the Fear of Quitting - Concerns about how they'll be treated if they stop volunteering makes some parents avoid getting involved at all.
• Don't Say It! - 12 casual comments that discourage involvement, 12 positive alternatives that build it.
• Protect Volunteers From Legal Risks - Having a few key policies in place can minimize the risks to parent volunteers.
• New Laws for Screening Volunteers - Three states passed laws in 2007 that addressed fingerprinting or doing background checks on school volunteers.
• Recruiting Preschool Parents - Involvement by parents whose children haven't even started school yet is great for everyone: They get a low-stress introduction to the school, and your group expands its membership base (and the pool of future leaders, too).
• Connect With Grandparents and Seniors - Reaching out to grandparents and seniors will pay dividends. Here’s how to make it happen.
• A Tool To Manage Volunteers - PTO Manager helps you find and track volunteers, and manage your finances more efficiently.
• 25 Ways To Catch and Keep Volunteers - Tips to lure volunteers in, keep them happy, and avoid the pitfalls that will keep them from coming back.
• Tax Breaks for Volunteers - School or parent group volunteers may be entitled to some tax breaks for their contributions; tax professionals recommend taking deductions only if the group is a registered 501(c)(3) charity.
• Do You Really Want Help? - Often it's easier to just do things yourself. But for the long-term health of your group, your time can be better spent.
• Recruit Volunteers by Phone - "Can you make a few calls?" may be the single phrase volunteers least like to hear. A simple system can make the task less stressful and more successful.
• The One-Hour Pledge - You'll get a lot more people to volunteer if they know there's a limit to their commitment.
• Build Your Volunteer Base: 11 Ideas - Tried-and-true ideas to nurture volunteers and make sure that every involvement experience is a positive one.
• 26 Ways To Build Involvement - Getting more parents to participate is as easy as A, B, C when you follow this list of best practices.